Adams, sounds like a good background for the airline game, age like most careers is against you. If you have any DUIs, arrests, or many speeding tickets, then maybe not. As well as any drug run ins.

Major airlines typically require 3000 to 5000 total time, and usually/currently want 1000 hours of turbine time. However the economic market, and amount of qualified pilots can change this. In the perfect market the major airlines could hire someone with a fresh commercial (till 2012 when a new law comes into effect, talked about below). In a bad economy/conditions, you could see 10 years of no hiring.

You need to read about the airline industry, you will have to work as a regional pilot, typically this is for some time, before going to a major. Many people never make it to a major for various reasons. Right now you need about 1000ttl/100me to get interviewed at a regional. In 2012 it will be 1500ttl due to a change in federal law. When you finish flight school you will have about 250 hours and a commercial license.

To get the flight time needed for a regional you can take the most popular route, which is flight instructing. Otherwise you can try to find a job flying skydivers, towing banners, patroling pipeline, doing traffic watch, and a few misc. other jobs. Most these pay 10-20k/yr. The largest headache with this, is that most jobs like this require you have experience doing it. IE flight instructor jobs usually require 100 hours giving instruction. Or flying skydivers in a single engine piston airplane, usually requires you have time flying skydivers. So it can be a NASTY C22 for many people, and can require some serious effort to track down a job that does not require previous experience. The next problem is that most of these first time jobs provide no chance to get multi engine time, so when you want to get multi engine time, you yet again only find jobs that require you have a bunch of multi engine time. You could go out and fly for fun in a twin engine plane, but that is usually over $200/hr, and at $15,000/year and is not a great option.

All info from your first regional job till major airlines can be found online, and this forums. There is a good synopsis written somewhere about the airline indurstry by a captain, its somewhat old, however it goes pay pay pay, fly fly fly, study study study study, test. If you can find that, it is good.

Any other questions just ask, now is expected to be a good time to be in the industry, because very few people are becoming pilots, and a TON of mainline airline pilots are going to retire over the next 2-10 years, over 50% of them.

One last thing to think about is are you OK with being gone 15days/month for the rest of your life. I am already dealing with this with my girlfriend who is having some difficulty adjusting to the fact that I am interviewing at Regional Airlines, and most likely (fingers crossed) be working at one. She has enjoyed me home every night since she met me, since I have been flying skydivers 10 min down the road.

Good luck.

Rick